COSMOS

Red camellia: deep desire

I heard of an old legend saying that the gods tie an invisible red thread around the little fingers for those that are destined to meet each other. The two people connected by this thread are lovers by fate, regardless of place, time, or events.

I have seen those threads before, believe me. Those bloody tangles between young hearts stood out to me like the first ruby camellia budding from the snow. And I'm here to tell you gods, I witnessed a man defying you. He cut the thread with his scissors - snap. Someone was crying. Someone was screaming. Someone was bleeding. No sound was heard, though. How could it be?

It hurt, god. It hurt.

***

"Brett, you scared me," Eddy opened the door with his eyes barely opened. His hair was messy, stretching in every direction.

"You look like you had fun last night," Brett stared blankly at red purplish marks blossoming on Eddy's neck. And no, those were not violin hickeys. Brett checked the time: 11 AM. It was Sunday, their day off from filming twosetviolin. Still, Brett thought Eddy would be awake by now.

Brett's eyes darted to the front step, landing on a pair of burgundy high heels he hasn't seen before.

"Is Hannah......" Brett whispered, now realizing that Eddy's girlfriend was in the house.

"Yeah, she's still sleeping though. We...slept late last night," Eddy blushed, letting Brett in.

"So our practice paid off? Good to hear," Brett muttered.

"What brings you here? Anything wrong?" Eddy asked, pouring himself a cup of cold coffee from the kitchen.

"You don't remember?" Brett sighed. "We promised to check out that new Taiwanese bubble tea place near the city hall today, remember?"

Eddy almost spit his coffee out, his eyes wide in surprise. Now that he was semi-awake, he recalled how they promised to hang out today, almost a week ago. Brett lowered his gaze, counting how many fluffs are poking out from the carpet.

It's alright. Typical Eddy, forgetting everything. Forgetting his violin, forgetting his flight schedule, forgetting... Brett.

"Oh fuck, it completely slipped my mind. I... I can get changed right now and let me just wash my face and-"

"No, you should stay here," Brett cut Eddy's words short. "Hannah's here. You can't just run off right now," Brett shrugged his shoulder, trying to act cool, just like Eddy has taught him.

Now, everything seemed kind of stupid now: how Brett has used up all of his yesterday's evening searching up all the flavors recommended on the website and nice brunch places around the area. How Brett's eyes opened almost immediately when the alarm rang this morning. How he sprang up from the bed to get a quick shower and picked out the clothes, like a kindergartner going on his first field trip.

"Sweetie, is someone there?" A young woman's voice rang from Eddy's bedroom.

Eddy and Brett's eyes met momentarily in awkwardness. Eddy turned bright red as he ran to the bedroom, closing a slightly open door.

"Um, Brett's here. You ... should probably put something on," Eddy spoke into the room.

"No, it's alright. I'm going out to grab lunch," Brett hurriedly walked to the front door.

"I screwed up. Sorry, Brett. Really sorry. Maybe we can schedule another time?"

"Sure, I will text you," Brett nodded. His eyes couldn't help but linger on Eddy's swollen lips and marks on his neck, probably extending beyond to his chest and...Brett closed his eyes in shame at his own imagination.